Kate Middleton to make first public appearance at king's birthday parade after cancer diagnosis

FILE - Britain's Kate, The Princess of Wales, Patron of the Foundling Museum, waves as she arrives to visit the Museum in London, May 25, 2023. ©AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File

The Princess of Wales said she is "making good progress" in her cancer treatment and plans to attend King Charles III's ceremonial birthday parade on Saturday, marking Kate's first public appearance since her diagnosis.

The 42-year-old wife of Prince William, who announced in March that she was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer, has not made any public appearances this year.

“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” Kate said in a statement released on Friday, adding that she faces “a few more months” of treatment.

“I’m looking forward to attending The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend with my family and hope to join a few public engagements over the summer, but equally knowing I am not out of the woods yet,” Kate said.

The announcement is a significant milestone, but does not mark a return to full-time public duties for Kate.

The palace issued a new photo of Kate, taken in Windsor earlier this week, showing her next to a tree, dressed casually in jeans and a blazer.

The palace said the king was “delighted” that Kate will attend Trooping the Colour, also known as the King’s Birthday Parade. It is an annual military parade that marks the monarch’s official birthday in June. King Charles III, who also is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, is due to oversee the ceremony, in which troops in full dress uniform parade past the king with their ceremonial flag, or “colour.”

Kate is expected to travel in a horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace with the couple’s children — Prince George, 10; Princess Charlotte, 9; and Prince Louis, who is 6 — before watching the ceremony from a building beside the parade ground.

She may also join other royals for a traditional Buckingham Palace balcony appearance.

© Euronews